God, I miss this club

[Ian]

Hi all. Most of you may not remember me or have not met me in the first place. While I'm now living in Auckland, I rode with TS through the summer of 2010, and loved every second of it. It was (and I'm sure still is) well organized, friendly, welcoming and still provided opportunities for people to ride their a$$es off if they so chose.

And therein lies the problem. You've spoiled me.

Finally went for my first group ride here. It's put on by one of the local shops, and (from the website's description) looked pretty similar to TS: everyone welcome, three different groups based on speed (medium, medium/fast, fast), etc. They even had a description of how to ride in the pack. So I showed up with high hopes.

When I arrived, I asked around to a few of the regulars about how they ride in the pack, so as to avoid being that new guy that throws himself in and screws everything up. I was baffled when the only answer I received was, "Don't worry about it". The organizer asked if there were any newbies and informed them (me included) they we should travel in the second group to leave. Imagine my shock when the two shop employees riding with us as "ride leaders" attacked off the front on the first hill and were never seen again.

From there it just turned into chaos. The formation disintegrated into random groups with no clear organization or teamwork, no communication, and no mercy (even though this was meant to be the medium/fast group). No one stopped for mechanicals (I would have if I had known where I was going) and no one was waiting for anyone that got launched off the back. I got dropped 15km into the 35km ride and didn't see another soul until the Medium group caught up 10km later.

All in all, an awful experience that couldn't be further from the TS rides. Man, I miss you guys.

[Ian]

Oh, and they didn't even go for coffee afterwards...

[barton bourassa]

Well Ian, you just might have to set up your own branch of Tripleshot Cycling! Lets go international and spread the word.
We do have it pretty good here. Lots of great riding and lots of great chatter and discussion!

Take care Ian!

[norman marcy]

How is the rowing coaching gig going in Oz that is what you went for if I remember correctly.

don't be discouraged by your experience look for some other riders and keep at it. I tried 3 or 4 different groups when I was in Perth before finding a group that I fit into, and that did coffee after.

cheers

Stormin Norman

[Greg Miller]

Hey Ian, we miss you too! Hopefully you find a club soon.

[watwin]

Hi everyone,
Just checked the website (we ex-TSers do that now and again out of pure nostalgia), saw this thread and had to post as another summer 2010 member now overseas. I'm currently doing a PhD in Oxford, England, now into my second year, and after last year was sadly sidelined with cascading injuries I'm finally back on a bike and working towards fitness again with the university's cycling and triathlon teams (first race back at the beginning of March, cycling aim for the term is a 25 mile TT varsity match vs cambridge at the end of April). Degree’s going well, oxford is awesome and I’m thrilled to be back in the saddle, but like Ian I too have been spoilt rotten by a summer of TS rides: six days a week, keen, knowledgeable and supportive at all levels. After being a ghost for a while I’ll try to post more regular updates/pictures of what will hopefully be my first racing season overseas (still representing in the baby blue TS jersey, which is going strong despite a couple tears from a recent crash), but in the meantime thought it was worth reinforcing how unique an environment we travelers have found TS to be!

Alec